by Melody Raven
She supposed that she should be happy they didn’t just teleport over to her, but it was probably pointless to teleport such a short distance.
She could open the door to get a clear shot at the tires, but that would make it too easy for the demons to pull her out of the car. She decided the best course was to wait until the car was started and push the window down. The damn thing had been broken, and a slight push was all it took for it to fall all the way down.
As soon as the engine roared to life, her window was down and she took aim.
Her end goal was the tires, but the demons were just feet from her. She reprioritized and aimed for the knees. Rapidly, she let off five shots. Three of the five hit kneecaps; one hit an upper thigh and one went wide. Not too shabby for moving targets.
The car moved as the demons fell to the ground in pain. Muriel refocused her aim to target the SUV. As the car moved farther down the street, she was only able to take a clear shot at the front two tires. With the four remaining bullets, she decimated the rubber.
As they turned the corner, Muriel got one last glimpse of the demons trying to stand. There was no chance they could chase them in their injured condition, and the SUV was now useless unless it had multiple spares. She breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the now smoking gun to her side.
She rested her head against the back of her seat as Kier broke numerous traffic laws in an attempt to get them as far away as quickly as possible.
“What was that about?” he asked.
“I could ask you the same question. Have you pissed off any of your friends lately?”
“Even if I had, those demons didn’t have any swords.”
“Fuck,” she muttered. Kier let out a small snort of laughter at her language. He was right. If the demons had been coming after Kier, they would have had suitable weapons. “They barely had weapons at all! Am I really such an easy mark that not even a knife was drawn and ready when they were searching my house for me?”
The insult rankled. She’d spent a thousand years killing demons on a daily basis. Didn’t that instill some fear?
“I wouldn’t take it too personally. Most demons are pretty stupid,” said Kier.
“Most?”
“I, obviously, am an exception. I’m actually pretty damn smart.”
“I would fight you on that, but you might have saved my ass back there so I’m going to attempt to be nice to you for the rest of the day.”
“You never answered my question though. Why would demons want you dead?”
“I have no idea. I’ve hardly seen any in the past five years. The ones I did see, I never approached. I just let them assume I was a harmless mortal and they never looked twice at me.”
Muriel looked over to him and was startled to see that he now wore a shirt. When had he conjured that up? And why was she sad that his magnificent chest was no longer visible?
“You obviously pissed someone off,” he said, not noticing her staring.
She jerked her gaze away to look out the window. “If I did, I was unaware of it.”
“They might not have had any weapons, but they did send five guys. That seems excessive for one mortal, no offense.”
“None taken,” she spit out.
He tried to hide a smile at her obvious offense. “You know, pride is one of the seven deadly sins. One of my favorites, actually.”
“I would’ve thought lust was your favorite,” she shot back, regretting the words immediately.
“Really? What makes you say that?” He shot her a wicked grin that caused her to believe he knew exactly how often she had been sneaking glances at his body. As if he knew all the horribly sensual things she had imagined him doing to her in the past twelve hours.
“I just thought all demons liked sex,” she said dismissively. Please change the subject.
“Is that why you kissed me back?”
Not changing the subject! “It was the adrenaline. I hadn’t been in a fight for so long, I forgot how much I enjoyed it.”
“It’s crazy what adrenaline does to tongues,” drolled Kier.
Muriel’s face turned a bright shade of pink. “Why did you kiss me?” she snapped.
Kier’s face turned serious. “Why wouldn’t I kiss you? You are beautiful, fierce, and so damn happy about your kill. It would have been a crime not to.”
Muriel once again turned to stare intently out the window, not saying anything. What did you say to the demon who called you beautiful? Why was there a thrill shooting through her at the thought of him believing that she was attractive?
It was a long while after that before she spoke again.
Extravagant was an understatement for the hotel room that Muriel walked into six hours later. High ceilings added to the illusion of size while two floor-to-ceiling windows gave an amazing view of the man-made pond behind the hotel. She wasn’t sure exactly where they were, but she knew they were a bit west of Dallas, Texas. Kier hadn’t wanted to go too far from a big city because he wanted to make sure they got a nice room.
Mission accomplished.
The king-sized bed was the focus of the room, and a large sitting room with a comfortable looking couch and two plush recliners filled out the space. Beautiful arrangements of fresh flowers decorated almost every flat surface. As she looked around the room, Muriel wondered whether this suite was bigger than the house she had just abandoned.
Kier walked over to the dresser and set down his jacket. The worn leather had been concealing their joined hands and the bloody machete. With some creative maneuvering, they were able to sneak the dirty weapon into the posh room without anyone calling the police on them. Muriel wondered what the hotel staff thought of Kier booking the presidential suite with some strange woman in her pajamas. As long as he gave a credit card that wasn’t declined, she supposed they didn’t care.
Muriel stared longingly at the bed. She didn’t understand why she was so exhausted, considering she hadn’t done anything but sit in a car for the past six hours. Kier must have noticed her staring at the bed. “No sleep yet. We should shower first, unless you like the feel of dried blood in your hair.”
Muriel grimaced at the thought. Decapitation was a bloody business, and neither of them had left her house without a good amount of red drops scattered over their faces and clothes. Kier could just conjure himself a clean set of clothes, but Muriel had to change shirts while they were on the road and duck into a truck stop bathroom to clean off her face. Hair was not as easy to clean during a road trip.
Kier had promised not to look as she used the borrowed magic to change shirts, but she had her doubts about his compliance. He looked much too smug afterwards. It wasn’t the first time he had seen her shirtless and, thanks to her plan for revenge, it wouldn’t be the last. In the interest of avoiding any additional drama, she didn’t call him out on it.
Now that he brought up the shower, she had to face the idea that he was going to see a lot more than a peek. Planning her revenge, she had known he would see her naked, but she never imagined that she would be so enticed by him. She never even entertained the notion that she could be attracted to such a man. It was one thing to worry whether he would keep his hands to himself, but she wasn’t so sure she could keep her hands off him.
Now or never. “Give me a moment.” She plugged in her emergency phone to charge.
“Are you sure that can’t be tracked?”
“It’s a prepaid phone. Only one person has the number,” she assured him. She really should have kept it charged and ready at all times, but considering she hadn’t used it in years and only checked it once a month for missed text messages, there was no point.
She did have an emergency email that she checked more often, not that it did her much good now. She hadn’t had time to check it for two days, and at the moment, she had no access to it. The hotel probably had a computer she could use, but that would have to wait.
“Samuel?” he asked.
Muriel nodded, seeing no reason to hi
de it. It was well known that she had been Samuel’s main guardian for years. When Samuel rebelled against the idea of a guardian angel, she sent Ava to watch over him. Ava was a soul trapped in Purgatory, on the border between being sent to Heaven or Hell. If she did enough work for the angels, she would get a second chance at her life to make good and earn her way into Heaven.
Ava had done her best to protect Samuel, motivated more so by her growing love for him than her desire to be free from Purgatory, but it hadn’t been enough. Eventually it was too dangerous for Ava, and Muriel stepped in to save them both. She managed to keep them safe but lost her wings in the process. Then Kier interfered.
“What do you know about the apocalypse?” she abruptly asked.
“The general stuff. End of the world with Hell being released on Earth for all eternity.”
He was mostly right. The apocalypse was when God would effectively end the world, bringing all the righteous into Heaven and abandoning the rest to Hell. Most of the citizens of Hell were not too happy about this. They liked Earth and having their pick of mortals to choose from.
Hell wasn’t known for being pleasant. Most demons spent a majority of their time above ground to get away from it. The current king, Azazel, figured out a way around it. He was slowly destroying the barriers between the Hell and Earth realms. If enough of the walls were destroyed, the realms would completely merge. All of the demons, ancient beasts and the more modern ones like Kier, would be free to walk the Earth.
It might sound good on paper to a demon, but demons fed on human souls. They had a vested interest in keeping the human population elevated. Azazel didn’t care how many of his demons would starve. As king, he fed off corrupt souls. Every time one of his demons dragged a mortal further into depravity, Azazel got a power boost. He would never starve or fight over food. He had seen to that the moment he stabbed Lucifer through the heart.
God, although not taking an active role, had not abandoned the Earth. He gave about ten mortals across the globe the gift of prophecy. Those prophets led Muriel to Samuel. She had been told that Samuel’s life would stop the apocalypse. He must live.
There was no actual time limit. Samuel was mortal, so he would die eventually. Until then, all angels were on high alert to keep him safe. The night he came closest to dying was the night Kier forced his blood down her throat.
“How do you feel about it?” she asked with narrowed eyes.
“You think I’m working with Azazel?”
“I know that you work for him. I want to know if you agree with him,” she said. “You didn’t seem too supportive of Samuel the last time we met.”
“I work for myself. What I did that night was purely to advance myself. It had nothing to do with Samuel or Azazel.”
Muriel didn’t know why, but that made her feel better. He was already cornered by her. Did he really have any reason to lie?
“Let’s get showered and then we can order some room service. I’m starving,” he said.
They’d eaten just a few hours earlier while on the road, but she supposed demons had a high metabolism. Angels rarely ate. It was one of the things she actually enjoyed more about being human. She loved learning the new tastes and textures of food.
She was pulled from her thoughts as Kier walked into the bathroom. The bathtub and shower were separate, the tub being an oversized Jacuzzi. The shower, with various sized spouts on three out of four walls, looked like some elaborate torture chamber.
“What is that?” she asked.
“A shower.”
“That’s not like any shower I have ever seen.”
He smiled at her. “I thought you were older than me. I still have so much to teach you.” She narrowed her eyes at the idea of him teaching her anything. “Take your shirt off for me, Muriel,” he commanded.
With those few words, the tone in the bathroom shifted. “I’m not doing anything for you,” she protested.
Kier stepped in closer and his hand fell on the flared curve of her waist. His touch was so light, she almost couldn’t feel him, but she was all too aware of his body so close to hers. “Whatever you want to tell yourself. Now take it off,” he whispered.
She wanted to fight him, scream that he had no control over her. But it would be pointless. She wanted a shower, and the only way to do that was to take her clothes off in front of him. If he wanted to tell himself that she was doing it for him, she would have to let him.
She looked past him to the wall as she put her hand to her stomach and concentrated until the material hung over her hand and her shoulders and back were exposed to the cool air.
Kier showed no obvious reaction, but she saw the subtle catch of his breath as his pupils dilated. “Now the bra,” he said with a husky voice.
Her nerves had her chewing on her bottom lip. “This is the same bra I wore yesterday. It isn’t magical.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, his free hand grabbed at the material on her left side and gave it a swift pull until it ripped and the remains of the bra hung, ruined, from her right shoulder.
She had thought that he couldn’t surprise her anymore, but she couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her throat. The force of his pull caused her to stumble a few steps toward him. He had to stop doing that!
His breath hissed out in appreciation as his gaze feasted upon her. Muriel turned away so her back was to him. “We are just showering,” she said with more authority than she felt. She reached into the shower and turned on the water, quickly finding a suitable temperature, and discarded her remaining panties and pants.
Without looking to see whether he had undressed, Muriel stepped beneath the warm flow of water. Before she had completely doused her head, Kier was behind her. His bound hand gripped her hip and pulled her back against his erection while his free arm wrapped around her and rested under her breasts.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, unsure whether it was fear or arousal that filled her at his touch.
There was no doubt of his arousal. His heavy erection rested against her backside, so close to where it was meant to go, with no barriers to its entry.
“I’m holding you,” he said innocently, as if there was nothing inappropriate about his touch.
“Well, stop it.” Her entire body seemed to be heated more from his body than the warm water that surrounded them.
“Do you really want me to stop? I can show you pleasure that has destroyed kingdoms. I can make you come until you never want to release me from these binds. Don’t you want me to make you come? Don’t you want me to make you scream?”
His words wrapped around her like a dark spell, dragging her further into his seduction. She pulled herself away from the spell but could not shake his arms from her body. “I just want a shower,” she insisted.
“Very well.” His arms released her and reached for the shampoo.
She let out a pent-up breath as her shoulders relaxed.
Only to tense right back up as he squeezed a small amount of shampoo into his free hand and rubbed it into her hair.
“I can do that,” she said desperately.
“I know you can, but I want to.” His fingers were like magic as he massaged her scalp and the back of her neck. When he finished, he pulled her back and rinsed the suds from her hair.
Isn’t there some song about washing a man out of your hair? That song is full of shit.
Kier repeated the process with the conditioner, and Muriel couldn’t bring herself to ask him to stop. She liked the feel of his hands on her. Even the feel of his hard cock pressing against her caused her to tingle between her legs, and she fought the urge to touch herself. To relieve the pressure.
She thought she was done as he finished rinsing the conditioner from her hair, but he grabbed the soap and started to wash her skin, stomach first. She held a breath, waiting to see whether he would move his hands up or down.
He moved them up.
“You have to stop,” she whispered, and not even she be
lieved herself.
Instead of stopping, he reached her breasts and generously lathered them before he set the soap aside and boldly cupped their weight in his hands. “Do you have any idea how good this feels?” he whispered into her ear.
His fingers played with her sensitive nipples, squeezing just to the point of pain and then releasing the pressure and soothing with gentle caresses. “I stared at you all last night,” he continued. His hot breath burned her neck. “I stared at you until I could not help myself and had to touch you, and when you finally filled my palm, you were so fucking perfect, I almost lost myself right there.”
A part of her was outraged that she had been touched in her sleep, but that part was buried beneath the desire he was stirring within her. God help her, but she didn’t want him to stop.
“I wanted to keep touching you all night. I wanted to roll you beneath me, spread your thighs and fuck you until you forgot where I end and you begin.”
Her cuffed hand covered his, but instead of fighting him, she held him closer, reveling in the touch.
His other hand moved lower, finally reaching between her thighs. He rubbed two fingers against her clit, causing her to jerk her hips back against his erection and gasp.
“Scream for me, Muriel. I want your screams,” he said.
Somehow that was able to snap her out of the trance he had her under. She jerked away from him and swatted his arms away as he reached for her. “Aren’t you forgetting? I did scream for you. Five years ago!
“Why are you doing this to me? I know you seduce mortals for their souls but you already had mine. What more could you possibly want from me?”
“You really have no idea what happened,” he said, incredulously.
She met his eyes and saw that they glowed a fiery orange-red. It was common for demon’s eyes to glow that color in the heat of battle, and Muriel had seen many of them in her time.
